Xavier
by Martial Arts Master
Summary: This story takes place after the Aristocats movie. In this story, Marie is offered a job as a professional singer, but she keeps coming home unhappy, and Berlioz is suspicious. Please review!


Xavier  
by Martial Arts Master  
The Aristocats and all related characters copyrighted by Walt Disney himself and Walt Disney studios. I made up Xavier, though. In case you haven't seen the movie, and I bet not many people have, here's what the characters look like: O'Malley is a large red alley cat, Duchess is a white cat, Marie is a white kitten, Berlioz is a black kitten, and Toulouse is an orange kitten. This story takes place after the Aristocats movie. I know that movie's old, but I only got the inspiration for this story just now, after watching the movie at another person's house. Finally, concerning my Flint: The Time Detective fic called Shadow Boy, I've only gotten 4 reviews, and I wanted 10. If I don't get 10 reviews for the first part of that fic, I'm not writing the second part. See the fic itself for the reason why. Now, let's get on with it!  
  
***  
  
It was morning, and it was three months from the whole incident with Edgar. Abraham de Lacy Giuseppe Tracy Thomas O'Malley, or O'Malley for short, was adjusting remarkably well to life as an Aristocat. He still reverted to his old ways at times, but in general he behaved very well. Duchess was getting older and had taken to taking more frequent naps then before. Marie had become quite the singer. Berlioz had gotten MUCH better at playing the piano, and had now moven up to playing more complicated pieces. Toulouse's paintings had also become more sophisticated, ranging from paintings of the mansion to those of people to abstract paintings.  
In general, though, the cats had gotten along splendidly.  
On a sadder note, Madame Adelaide Bonfamille had died a week earlier, having suffered a heart attack. The cats had, of course, gone to her funeral, along with Georges Hautecort. The very bottom of the mansion was still a refuge for many of the animals of Paris, including Scat Cat, his gang, Napoleon, and Lafayette. Roquefort was still living in his mousehole.  
However, with no human around the house to take care of her, Georges Hautecort had to sell her to someone else. Fortunately Frou Frou was doing quite well there.  
All in all, the cats were able to take care of themselves without humans around to take care of them.  
This is where my story begins...  
  
"Marie, why don't we try singing 'Scales and Arpeggios' again?" Duchess said.  
"Ok, mama," Marie said.  
"Aww, do we have to? I can play much more complicated pieces than THAT now," Berlioz complained.  
"Now, now, even the greatest of piano players must practice the basics now and then," Duchess said.  
"Yeah, Berlioz," O'Malley said. "You wanna be a great musician, don't you?"  
"Yes, O'Malley," Berlioz said.  
Berlioz obediently started playing, and Marie started singing. Toulouse, meanwhile, was painting a picture in another corner of the room.  
  
After the song was finished, there was a knock on the door downstairs.  
The knock didn't sound like a human knocking. It was too soft for that.  
O'Malley went downstairs. Two weeks before her death, Madame had installed a pet door in the door so her pets could get some fresh air even after she was long gone.  
"Come in!" O'Malley said.  
A male black-and-white striped cat opened the door and went in the house.  
"Greetings," the cat said. "My name is Xavier. I couldn't help but overhear someone singing just now."  
"Yeah, you heard right," O'Malley said.  
"I know it could not have been YOU, because your voice is too deep," Xavier said. "If I'm not mistaken, the voice was female, belonging to a kitten."  
"That would be Marie," O'Malley said.  
"Marie...that's a nice name," Xavier said. "Would you mind introducing me to her?"  
"Yeah, sure," O'Malley said, leading Xavier upstairs.  
O'Malley opened the door.  
"Duchess! Kittens! We have a visitor!" O'Malley said.  
"Line up and say hello, my loved ones," Duchess said to her kittens.  
Obediently, Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse lined up in front of Duchess, facing Xavier.  
"Hello, sir," they chorused.  
"Hello there, children," Xavier said. He turned to face Marie.  
"You must be Marie," Xavier said.  
"Yes I am," Marie replied.  
"You have an excellent singing voice," Xavier commented. "I could hear it float from outside the house. I was wondering if you'd like to take your singing talents a step further from demonstrations for your mother."  
"What sort of step further?" Duchess asked.  
"My human owns a music club for humans, and I myself own a music club below his stage," Xavier said. "I hire singers to sing for my audiences, and I don't care what age the singers are as long as they have beautiful voices. I was wondering if Marie would like to become one of those singers."  
"REALLY?!" Marie asked, excited. "I'd get to become a professional singer?"  
"That's very kind of you, sir," Duchess said.  
"Wait a minute," O'Malley said. "What would you pay her with?"  
"I'd pay her with cat food, of course, and I'd provide enough to feed all of you," Xavier replied.  
"What kind of cat food?" Berlioz asked.  
"The best kind, of course," Xavier said. Then, with an almost seductive air, he said, "_Gourmet_ cat food."  
"_Gourmet_..."O'Malley said dreamily.  
"I hear gourmet cat food tastes very good," Toulouse said.  
"Aw man, why's Marie so lucky to get such an offer already?" Berlioz complained.  
"Now, now, Berlioz, that is not kind," Duchess said. "You should feel proud that your sister has progressed in her skills enough to be offered a job."  
"Yeah!" Marie said, sticking out her tongue at Berlioz, then sticking it back in before one of the adult cats could catch her doing something that un-ladylike.  
"It's up to Marie," O'Malley and Duchess said in unison.  
"I'll take the job," Marie said.  
"Splendid!" Xavier exclaimed. "You can start today. Is this a good time, madam?"  
"As long as you can get her home," Duchess said reluctantly.  
"I can walk home myself," Marie said in a dignified way.  
"Splendid!" Xavier said. "Now come along."  
Xavier led Marie downstairs and out of the house.  
  
In the afternoon...  
  
Berlioz was practicing some complicated piano pieces, and Toulouse was finishing a portrait of himself.  
Suddenly the door to the room opened and Marie walked in. She was bruised all over her body, and it was obvious she was trying not to look depressed.  
She wasn't exactly succeeding. In fact, everyone could see she was trying to hold back tears.  
"Oh my goodness!" Duchess said, running over to Marie. "What happened to you, dear?"  
The kittens and O'Malley also came running over to see what was wrong.  
"I'm so embarassed," Marie said miserably. "I fell off the stage. It was a very high stage."  
"Well, Marie, let's get you cleaned up," Duchess said. As she and O'Malley were leading her into Madame's restroom to get her cleaned up, Duchess said, "Try not to be embarassed, dear. Even the greatest of performers make mistakes sometimes."  
As soon as the restroom door had closed behind Marie, Toulouse said, "Marie must be really clumsy to have an accident like that on her first performance."  
Berlioz was suspicious, however. Marie said she had fallen off the stage. That could have happened, but that should have only given her at most a few bruises. Marie had bruises _all over her body_! Had Marie really fallen off the stage like she said she had? Berlioz had a feeling something funny was going on...  
  
The next afternoon...  
  
Xavier had come to pick up Marie again that morning. Now, in the afternoon, O'Malley and Duchess were resting, and Toulouse was painting a portrait of Marie. Berlioz was once again practicing some complicated piano pieces.  
Suddenly the door opened, and Marie walked in. She was sniffling, and she had SCRATCHES all over her body!  
"Oh no!" O'Malley said, running over to Marie. Duchess did so also, and so did Berlioz and Toulouse.  
"What happened to YOU?" Toulouse asked.  
"A glass prop broke, and I was trying to take a nap, and I guess I must have laid on the pieces my accident.  
"Geez, you really ARE clumsy," Toulouse said.  
"Toulouse!" Duchess scolded. "That is not nice."  
"Yeah, tiger, even alley cats are nicer than that," O'Malley said. He and Duchess took Marie into Madame's restroom again to get her cleaned up.  
Now Berlioz was REALLY suspicious. No cat ever took a nap without watching where he/she was laying. Marie would definitely know better than that. If this happened again, Berlioz resolved to confront Marie and force her to tell him the truth.  
  
The next afternoon...  
Again, Marie came back from her performance injured. But THIS time, she had both bruises AND scratches all over her body, and she was crying, not sniffling and not holding back tears.  
Before O'Malley and Duchess could say anything, Berlioz piped up, "Mama, O'Malley, I'll get Marie cleaned up."  
"Are you sure, dear?" Duchess asked dubiously. But she didn't object, probably secretly glad that Berlioz was being so nice to his sister for a change.  
Berlioz took Marie to the restroom and shut the door. Then Berlioz's face hardened.  
"Ok, Marie, tell me the truth!" Berlioz said. "There's a saying that if something happens once, you pay no attention, if it happens twice, it makes you wonder, and if it happens three times, there must be something to it! This is the third time you've come home injured and miserable, and I wanna know why!"  
"Do you promise not to tell anyone?" Marie asked.  
"I promise," Berlioz said. "Now fess up!"  
Marie, reassured, said, "Xavier wants to...mess with me. He asks me to let him at the end of each of my performances, and I each time I refuse, he beats me up, but then he lets me go home."  
"Whaddya mean 'messes with you'?" Berlioz asked.  
"It's not ladylike for me to explain that," Marie said, "but remember when Mama gave us the 'big talk'?"  
"How could I forget?" Berlioz asked rhetorically. Four weeks before Madame's death, Duchess had felt that her kittens were old enough to receive the 'big talk' about where kittens came from. It had left Berlioz and Toulouse feeling very bemused, but Marie had simply walked off, seemingly unaffected.  
"Well, Xavier wants to do that to me by force, and he beats me up when I refuse," Marie said, shuddering at the memory.  
"That's SICK!" Berlioz exclaimed. "What a jerk! Why didn't you tell us before?"  
"He said if I told anyone, he'd k---k---kill me," Marie said, bursting into tears again.  
Berlioz was outraged. He along with Toulouse sometimes were mean to Marie, but THIS was BEYOND mean! It was downright _perverted_!  
"Marie, I have a plan," Berlioz said. "First, you'll have to tell Toulouse, Mama, and O'Malley about what Xavier's doing to you. And then..." Berlioz proceeded to outline a plan.  
  
At noontime the next day...  
  
Marie was singing "Everybody Wants To Be A Cat" for the audiences. When she finally finished, everyone clapped and left.  
"Marie, dear, let's go backstage," Xavier said with a perverted gleam in his eye.  
Marie whimpered with fear and followed him backstage.  
"Now, are you ready to be my sex playtoy, or do I have to beat you up again?" Xavier asked.  
"Never!" Marie said.  
"Then prepare to face my wrath!" Xavier said, and leaped at Marie.  
Suddenly O'Malley, Duchess, Berlioz, and Toulouse leaped out from behind the curtains and in front of Xavier.  
Xavier was so startled that he lost his balance and fell to the ground with a thump, getting back up again.  
"So what Marie told us was TRUE!" Toulouse said.  
"You're a rat!" O'Malley said angrily.  
"You are a very horrible person, and I will not stand for it!" Duchess said. "We're not letting Marie go to any more of your performances!"  
"NOOOOOOO!" Xavier screamed.  
"What's the matter, gonna go out of business?" Toulouse taunted.  
"I don't care about the business, my human has plenty of money! I just don't wanna lose my playtoy!" Xavier shouted.  
"Is that all she is to you? A PLAYTOY?!" Berlioz asked.  
"Uh---well---uh..." Xavier said, fumbling for a response.  
"Don't even bother looking for an excuse," O'Malley said. "Marie will not submit to you, and that's final!"  
"Then suffer the consequences yourself!" Xavier said, leaping at O'Malley.  
Berlioz leaped up into the air and slashed Xavier across the face. Xavier might have defended against the slash, but he had not expected Berlioz to intercept him, and Berlioz's slash drew blood.  
"OWWWWWWWWWWWW! All right, all right! I'll never bother Marie again!" Xavier said, whimpering. "Just don't hurt me!"  
With that, Xavier ran off, tail metaphorically between his legs.  
"Thank you," Marie said.  
"Wow, Berlioz, that was cool!" Toulouse said. "That looked so painful! If I ever become a tough alley cat I'll start practicing how well I can scratch!"  
"Yeah, Berlioz, you're almost as much of a tiger as Toulouse is!" O'Malley said.  
"You stood up to Xavier, and I'm very proud of you," Duchess said.  
"You're a bona fide hero!" Marie said.  
Berlioz was about to make a cutting remark, but instead he blushed and hid his face behind his paws. He wasn't used to this much attention. He also wasn't used to being called a hero, either.  
  
The End  
  
***  
  
E-mail all questions and comments to bleifer@msn.com. 


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